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Live Well Suffolk respond to 50th anniversary of landmark smoking report

March 6th, 2012

Live Well Suffolk has hailed the 50th anniversary of a landmark report which first highlighted the dangers of smoking as “remarkable”. Smoking kills three people every day in Suffolk and is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the county.

The 1962 report which was published by the Royal College of Physicians was the first time that politicians and members of the public understood the link between smoking and lung cancer. The report has been seen by many to be a contributory factor towards the changing attitudes to smoking in the 1960s, a time when it was considered normal to smoke. It is estimated that in 1962, 70% of men and 40% of women in the UK smoked.

Within three years of the publication of the report, cigarette advertising was banned onUKtelevision and health warnings appeared on packets just nine years later.

Speaking of the report, Tim Roberts, Director of Live Well Suffolk said: “It is remarkable that it was only 50 years ago that the health implications of smoking were first brought to the public’s attention. The 1962 report was the catalyst for the changing public perception to smoking and it is clear that many of today’s guidelines are directly taken from this report.”

“In today’s Society, we are fortunate that we have the knowledge and information available to educate us about the dangers of smoking. In recent years we have noticed that there has been a shift in the public perception of smokers and we are finding that more and more long term smokers across the county are asking us for advice on how to give up.”

Live Well Suffolk is working hard to support individuals across the county who wish to stop smoking. The healthy lifestyles service offers a variety of free specialist stop-smoking sessions across the county with trained advisors on hand to offer advice and guidance and medication to support those looking to quit the habit. The stop smoking sessions are available in either one-to-one or group based sessions and unique workshops are available to suit the individual needs of pregnant mums, dads and families.